Various shapes of toothbrushes are known for cleaning normal teeth and these comprise a brushing head on which soft bristles are disposed whereby not to damage the sensitive gums of a user person. The brush may have a variety of bristle stiffness but as a whole these are generally considered soft bristles. It is also known, as for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,028,519 and 2,083,217 to provide a dental brush with an instrument provided at the opposed end of the brush head, such as a spoon whereby medicated products can be dispensed as such products are usually found in bathroom pharmacy cabinets. However, such spoon is of a size similar to that which we normally find in household utensils but is more convenient to the user when provided at the end of a toothbrush. The toothbrush may also be provided with a removable covering to massage the gums as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,109.
Most prior art toothbrushes are used for the cleaning of normal teeth and have been found unsatisfactory for the proper cleaning of dental prosthesis.
A dental prosthesis is formed of hard plastic materials which is set on a mold which carries the imprint of the wearer's upper pallet and upper and lower gums. This imprint contains distorted cavities which are useful for the retention of the dental prosthesis in the wearer's mouth. Without such cavities the dental prosthesis would be loose and would not be retained by the gums and upper pallet. It is known to provide a prosthesis brush which is comprised of a handle portion and a brush head formed of stiff bristles, much like the conventional toothbrush, but the head being relatively larger. This known dental prosthesis brush has a head similar to the conventional brush but formed of stiffer bristles and defining a flat brushing surface. However, hard-to-reach cavitated areas of the dental prosthesis are not cleaned by such brush.
It is essential for good hygiene to be able to clean these hard-to-reach areas on the inner surface of the dental prosthesis and also on the exterior surfaces in the cavities between the synthetic teeth as it is in those areas that plaque develops and hardens. The hardened plaque also forms surfaces which can be irritant to the wearer and may also affect the retention capacity of the dental prosthesis. Another disadvantage of the formation of plaque is that it carries bacteria and this bacteria generates unpleasant mouth odors.